TEHRAN – Uzbekistan has expressed interest in enhancing cooperation with Iran in different fields including health, education, and technology.

The country has asked Iran’s health sector to provide online consultation to Uzbek professionals and establish a direct link between medical specialists of the two countries.

The Iranian health ministry welcomes expanding collaborations, aimed at mutual progress and development, with neighboring and friendly countries, Mohammad-Hossein Niknam, the Iranian deputy health minister has said.

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan is mainly focused on the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, and cancers among women and children, as well as orthopedic disorders and traumatology, he added.

Also, during a meeting held in Tehran on Wednesday, the head of the Organization for the Development of International Cooperation in Science and Technology, Hossein Roozbeh, and the vice president for the development of international cooperation of Uzbekistan, Fazliddin Muminov, discussed ways to expand scientific and collaborative efforts.

Expanding cooperation in the field of science, exchanging students and professors, promoting knowledge-based companies’ collaborations, participating in scientific and technological events including technology exhibitions, and holding joint seminars, meetings, and symposia were among the most important focuses of the meeting.

Lauding Iran’s high capacities in science and knowledge-based companies, the Uzbek official said, Iran is a powerful and prominent country in the region with high and strategic capabilities in knowledge and technology. By integrating Iran’s capabilities with Uzbekistan’s capacities, the two countries will benefit from remarkable progress.

“There is a potential capacity for boosting cooperation in education, interactions among professors and academics of the two countries, and exchanging test equipment, as well as technological knowledge-based products,” he added.

The official further noted the interactions among officials and representatives of the two countries need to be followed up on to pave the way for effective collaborations.

Roozbeh, for his part, said there is a strong connection between the two countries in terms of history, culture, and shared identity which lays the ground for fostering education and technological cooperation. 

Boosting interactions between the universities of the two countries will facilitate conducting joint activities.

Iran is willing to share its expertise in science and technology as well as education with Uzbekistan. 

Uzbekistan eager to expand all-out cooperation with Iran

In May, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said his country is eager to boost all-out cooperation with Iran, especially in trade, energy, mining, and health sectors.

"Iran is today a powerful country with great economic, cultural, and intellectual capabilities," Mirziyoyev said on May 7 while receiving the credentials of Mohammad-Ali Eskandari, Iran's ambassador to Uzbekistan at the Presidential Office.

"Uzbekistan is interested in expanding cooperation with Iran in the fields of mining, energy, chemical industries, agriculture, health, and pharmaceuticals," he stressed.

Iran’s health sector a role model in the region 

In October, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) director for the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO) called Iran’s health sector a role model in the region
WHO EMRO is interested in expanding cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, IRNA quoted Hanna Hasan Balkhi as saying.

The official made the remarks in a meeting with Alireza Raeisi, the Iranian deputy health minister, and Mohammad-Hossein Niknam, the deputy health minister for international affairs, on the sidelines of the Seventy-first session of the WHO EMRO.

A delegation led by Health Minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarqandi participated in the seventy-first session of the WHO EMRO which was held in Doha, Qatar, from October 14 to 17.

“During my short visit to Iran a few months ago, I became familiar with the capabilities of Iran in the health sector; Iran is a role model in health in the region,” Balkhi noted.

“Utilizing full potentials available in the [regional] countries is essential for us, and we will not hesitate to support the implementation of health programs,” the official noted.

Raeisi, for his part, enumerated priorities in the country’s health sector, namely completing the implementation of the family physician program and the electronic health record program.

Referring to non-communicable diseases as another important issue in the health sector, the official said, “Unfortunately, due to the crises in West Asia, the prevalence of non-communicable diseases has increased, and the onset age of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and obesity has lowered.

Therefore, we are planning to control the risk factors from childhood through old age. To achieve the goal, we need to develop plans in cooperation with the World Health Organization.”

In May 2023, Ricardo León-Bórquez, the president of the World Federation of Medical Education, praised Iran for progress in the health sector, saying that the country’s achievements are amazing.

“Iran has paid much attention to the importance of medical education and can be one of the key members of the World Federation of Medical Education in the accreditation process,” he added.

He made the remarks in a meeting in Tehran with former Health Minister Bahram Einollahi, noting that the accreditation process of medical education, which was started by WFME in Iran in 2019, has progressed very well and Iran is moving in the right direction in this field.

Tehran, Tashkent discuss expanding tech co-op

In October 2023, the former Vice President for Science, Technology and Knowledge-based Economy Rouhollah Dehqani Firouzabadi traveled to Tashkent to discuss developing technological cooperation with Uzbekistan’s Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Ibrahim Abdurakhmanov.

Dehqani Firouzabadi was invited to attend the International Inno-week 2023, IRNA reported.

Apart from visiting the exhibition in which 25 Iranian knowledge-based companies took part, Dehqani Firouzabadi visited the Iran House of Innovation and Technology in Tashkent, lay the groundwork for concluding several technology contracts, and expanding knowledge-based exports.

On June 18, 2023, the Iran House of Innovation and Technology (iHiT) in the city of Tashkent was inaugurated, aimed at introducing knowledge-based, technological, and creative products of Iran to Uzbekistan, and facilitating scientific interactions and cooperation between the two countries, IRNA reported.

The private sector invested about $4 million to establish the iHiT Tashkent.

The two sides signed a technological cooperation agreement worth $10 million in the field of energy under the support of the house of innovation and technology.

Exporting technological products of Iranian knowledge-based companies is one of the important and key programs of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, and in this regard over the past years, with the support of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, the Iranian houses of innovation have been set up in several countries to develop the global market for knowledge-based products.

These centers have already been set up in countries such as Russia, Turkey, China, Syria, Kenya, Armenia, and Iraq.

MT/MG